Cannes Film Festival Grapples With Netflix, Amazon – and Terrorism?

Welcome to the new, uneasy Cannes Film Festival, where artistry and commerce have suddenly come face to face with real-world problems like terrorism.

The world of cinema heads to the south of France every May looking for the answers to questions like “What awards contenders or box office hits will be launched?” and “What will win the Palme d’Or?” and “What big deals will be made?” and “Who’ll have the biggest, silliest promotional stunt?”

But in 2016, you can add another question: “Will Cannes be safe?”

Amid increased security because of recent terrorist attacks in Europe, the 69th annual festival will proceed cautiously, hoping it can ignore the messiness of the outside world for at least two weeks. “The maximum is being done to strike the right balance so the Cannes Film Festival can remain a place of freedom and pleasure,” festival President Pierre Lescure promised at the press conference announcing the lineup in April.

Thirty years ago, a similar prompted by terrorist threats in the wake of a U.S. raid on Libya caused virtually every American star with a film in the festival to stay home. But there’s been little indication this year that security concerns are keeping many people away.

And under the watchful eye of increased security, they’ll walk the long stairs leading into the Grand Theatre Lumiere under the glare of thousands of flashbulbs, and they’ll bask in lengthy standing ovations — and maybe a few will even hear those infamous Cannes boos (though, to be fair, those mostly happen during press screenings and not the star-studded premieres).

And as long as things stay quiet, the focus will remain on the matters that dominate most of the time at Cannes. There will be grumbling about the lack of female directors — three in the 20-film main competition, others scattered throughout the other section and sidebars.

There will be the battle for awards between a handful of English-language movies — “The Last Face,” “Personal Shopper,” “Loving,” “American Honey,” “I, Daniel Blake,” “Paterson” — and the work of international auteurs less likely to attract mainstream American moviegoers but perhaps more likely to catch the eye of the jury headed by “Mad Max” director George Miller.

The British oddsmaker Paddy Power, for instance, currently has three co-favorites to win the Palme d’Or: French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan‘s “It’s Only the End of the World,” Romanian Cristi Puiu’s “Sierranevada” and Spaniard Pedro Almodovar‘s “Julieta,” all at 7/1 odds.

And on the deal-making side, Cannes will feature two huge question marks. Netflix and Amazon have been dominant players at recent film festivals like Sundance, aggressively pursuing movies and driving up the prices for traditional film-fest buyers like Sony Pictures Classics, IFC and The Weinstein Company.

The art-house wares on display in the biggest theaters at Cannes may not be obvious picks for Netflix and Amazon — but the latter company’s head of motion pictures, indie veteran Ted Hope, did tell TheWrap that his company would be looking for “this year’s ‘Son of Saul,'” the Hungarian movie that came out of nowhere at last year’s Cannes and ended up winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Cannes being Cannes, though, it’s not all about the movies that’ll screen at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. In the basement of the Palais, lots of deals will be made for less illustrious films — and more than a few deals that were already made will be announced as if they’re new, as buyers and sellers hope to capitalize on the Cannes dateline to get some extra attention.

But then, so will starlets and financiers and would-be producers and little fly-by-night companies and big outfits like Sony and DreamWorks Animation, which will hold parties and photo-ops for their animated movies “Angry Birds” and “Trolls” before the festival even kicks off.

It’s Cannes, simultaneously a temple of cinema and a three-ring circus of celebrity.

And even though this year’s festivalgoers may be looking over their shoulders a little more often than usual, it’s showtime.

The last time Woody Allen had Cannes' opening-night movie was 2011's "Midnight in Paris," which landed four Oscar nominations.

"Julieta"

Pedro Almodóvar's 20th movie focuses on women, an approach that has led to many of his most notable films.

"Loving"

Five years after winning Cannes' Critics Week competition with "Take Shelter," American director Jeff Nichols is back with a true story of an interracial Virginia couple fighting unjust laws in the 1960s.

"American Honey"

One of three female directors (versus 17 men) in the main competition, Andrea Arnold makes grimy, tough movies; her first film set in the United States deals with a runaway teenage girl and features Shia LaBeouf.

Kristen Stewart became the first American actress to win France’s version of the Oscar, the Cesar, for Olivier Assayas’ last film, “Clouds of Sils Maria.” Now she’s back (playing, um, a personal shopper) in a new Assayas film.

"Slack Bay"

Adventurous French director Bruno Dumont will be going to Cannes for the sixth time with this comedic film set in 1910; if it's like his other work, it'll be divisive.

A documentary made with the cooperation of living entertainers runs the risk of being a sentimental puff piece, but directors Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens have an ace in the hole is the acid wit of Carrie Fisher, who’s not likely to countenance a sappy look at her life with her famous mother.

Here's another icon: punk-rock godfather Iggy Pop, who gets the documentary treatment from Jim Jarmusch (who's also at Cannes with his fictional feature film "Paterson").

"Elle"

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven has made hits ("Robocop," "Basic Instinct") and bombs ("Showgirls"); his new film is a thriller starring Cannes regular Isabelle Huppert as a rape victim who stalks her assailant.

"The Last Face"

Sean Penn's fifth film as director, a romantic drama starring Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem, would likely be worth checking out even if it wasn't for the voyeuristic thrill of seeing Penn and Theron on the red carpet less than a year after their relationship broke up.

"The Unknown Girl"

The Dardenne brothers had a real movie star, Marion Cotillard, in the last film they took to Cannes, but now they’re back with their usual cast of unknowns and non-pros in this story of a doctor trying to discover the identity of a young woman who died.

"The BFG"

Recent Oscar winner Mark Rylance reunites with director Steven Spielberg for this Roald Dahl adaptation, one of the few Hollywood studio productions using Cannes as a launching pad.

"Aquarius"

Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho's 2013 film debut "Neighboring Sounds" was a small gem, raising expectations for his second outing as director.

"Dog Eat Dog"

With writer-director Paul Schrader (who directed "Affliction" and wrote "Taxi Driver") and stars Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, the closing-night film in the Directors' Fortnight section promises to be combustible.